Source: Thesun.co.uk
With kick-off delayed by 30 minutes and news filtering through that United were losing at Craven Cottage, Guus Hiddink's Blues knew a win would put them right back in contention for the title.
The only problem was no one had told Tottenham and Luka Modric, who netted the only goal of the game, that they were required to roll over and die.
Having seen his side slip to their first defeat under his leadership, Hiddink could not hide his disappointment at full-time.
The Dutchman said: "Today was an ideal opportunity to close the gap on Manchester United and we missed it.
"These are the days you look back on and regret very much when you are in a title race.
"We cannot afford to drop two or three points in any game if we want to catch United and today we lost — it's a huge blow.
"Still, we have two other roads to trophies (the FA Cup and Champions League) and we must learn a big lesson from today if we want to challenge for those.
"I can't argue with the result — it was a fair reflection."
Spurs frustrated their fierce rivals during a goalless first half with skipper Robbie Keane forcing Petr Cech into action on two occasions.
Chelsea enjoyed their fair share of possession without causing any real danger before Modric stunned Hiddink five minutes after the break by drilling the home side ahead.
Aaron Lennon gave England colleague Ashley Cole a torrid time all afternoon and it was the winger who created the opening for Modric.
Lennon's cross rolled into the Croatian's path and his curling right-foot effort left Cech well beaten.
Chelsea threw John Terry up front in the dying minutes and Alex hit the bar with a thumping header.
But it was too little, too late as Spurs dug in to condemn the Blues to a defeat which could finally end their Premier League challenge.
As for Tottenham, the result kills any lingering fears of relegation and Harry Redknapp insists the only was is up for his side.
The delighted boss said: "That is a big three points for us and we've been in great form of late.
"I think that's 18 points from our last nine games, which is terrific.
"We've a long way to go to get into the top four — that's very, very difficult — and I'm not going to kid myself or anyone by saying we're close to that at the moment.
"But we were excellent today and I thought we were comfortable throughout, even if they put us under pressure in the last 10 minutes.
"We're in a good situation now where we can start looking up.
"I don't know what it'll take to stay up but, with the way we're playing, we're all about how high up we can finish in the table now."
Tottenham: Gomes, Corluka, Woodgate, King, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon (Zokora 90), Jenas, Palacios, Modric (O'Hara 87), Bent, Keane. Subs not used: Cudicini, Bentley, Huddlestone, Pavlyuchenko, Dawson. Booked: Palacios, Modric.
Goal: Modric 50.
Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, Ashley Cole, Essien (Malouda 76), Ballack, Lampard, Belletti (Quaresma 61), Drogba, Anelka. Subs not used: Hilario, Ivanovic, Di Santo, Kalou, Mancienne. Booked: Belletti, Ballack.
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